Mage Destiny: Technocratic Union
by Geno
Summary: This is a story about a normal guy who lives a hard life in the modern world until one day destiny takes him into the world of magic.
1. Abnormal Event

DISCLAIMER:

I do not own the world nor any of the rules of this story. The only things I can claim to be mine are the characters and the plot. The views and opinions expressed in the story may or may not be my own, the whole idea is for you to think a character is being stupid, not me. If you happen to see something wrong you may inform me, but please do not do so in an insulting mannor. Please feel free to read and review, and enjoy.

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Magic is not dead.

Open your eyes and see with mystick sight.

A War rages,

A Reckoning is at hand.

On one side stand the Others,

Who would twist our world with their mad designs;

On the other hand, the snare of Pride,

And Power's lure,

Await an inner Fall.

Is our Path too narrow?

You decide.

Come forth,

A journey beckons.

Open your eyes

And Awaken.

**MAGE DESTINY**

**Technocratic Union**

**Chapter 1**

**Abnormal Event**

In room nine of an apartment building on Elms road, there lived a man named Tom Winslow. Tom was a twenty year old man who, aside from his uncanny sense of time, had no real talents whatsoever. He is an only child and both of his parents died two years after he was born, murdered by their neighbor at the time. Tom has been forced to live on his own ever since, trying to make a living on the small portions of money he gets from whatever job he could get. It wasn't unusual to see him looking for a job as he usually can't keep one for more than a week. However, this man's life is about to change, forever.

Our story takes place at seven o'clock AM on a Monday. An alarm sounded and Tom slowly woke up, rubbing his eyes. He had shoulder length white hair and blue eyes wearing only boxers. slowly he rolled over and covered his head with his pillow as if trying to drown out the noise, but when he discovered that he could still hear it, he pushed himself up a little, swung his pillow, and smacked the alarm clock a crossed the room.

"Damn clock..." He said with a yawn. His eyes were still very heavy. He rolled over and placed his pillow back under his head, closing his eyes slowly. He thought he could get at least five more minutes like everyone else, but then there was a knock at the front door.

"Tom Winslow!" A female voice screamed through the door. Tom rolled his eyes as he listened to her. "Get out of bed this instant! It's time for you to go to work!

Tom rolled onto his back with his arms outstretched. He let out a heavy sigh as he stared at the ceiling. Eventually he sat up and swung his legs over the side of his bed. He faced his clock which now lay on the floor with several pieces missing. He smirked in amusement, proud of breaking that infernal noise maker that tormented him every morning.

"Tom!" The voice yelled again, louder this time and with more door pounding. "Did you hear me?!"

"Yes, Mrs. Fonner! I'm up!"

He heard footsteps leaving the door to his room. Knowing that meant Mrs. Fonner had finally gone. Tom reached to his right and grabbed a black shirt, pulling it on lazily. He then pulled on a pair of blue jeans and finally got up, grabbing his wallet and stuffing it into his pocket as he opened his closet. He pulled out a McDonalds work shirt and headed for the door slowly, walking as if he was still asleep. He slowly opened his door and stepped out, putting on his work shirt.

"I'm leaving, Mrs. Fonner! He called as he closed his front door.

-

Tom walked out the front door of the apartment, his McDonalds work shirt now on completely. He was very anxious to get to work. He had this job for a whole week and hasn't lost it yet. Today was pay day. He knew he wasn't getting much, but it would at least be enough to pay his rent for the week and buy some food to live on for a little while. Tom held his hand out as a taxi drove around the corner. it approached him slowly from the left and came to a stop next to him. The driver rolled down his window and peered out to speak.

"Where you headed?" He said to Tom. A half-smoked cigar hanging from under a black, bushy mustache. He looked sort of like a plumber.

"Um, McDonalds." Tom said to the driver, a bit distracted by the driver's appearance. "I'm in a bit of a hurry. It's seven fifteen now... If we leave now I can make it in time." The taxi driver went to look at his watch. Sure enough, it had just turned seven fifteen about five seconds before Tom said it was. He looked up at Tome in amazement.

"That's pretty good! How'd you know that without looking at a watch or anything?"

"I don't know." Tom said. "It's kind of a gift I have. Anyway, can you take me there?"

"Of course." The taxi driver said with a smirk. "Wouldn't be much of a cab driver if I couldn't. Hop in."

"Thanks." Tom opened the back door on the passenger side. He slipped in and slowly brought his leg in as the car started driving off, closing the door. The trip was rather boring as neither of them spoke. Tom watched out the window as he passed the same buildings he passed every day along with the same boring people walking the sidewalks, reading newspapers or talking. Most looking a lot richer then he. In no time at all they were approaching McDonalds. Several police cars were surrounding the place.

"Better put your seat-belt on." The taxi driver informed Tom who seemed distracted by the police.

"Huh? Oh, right." But tom did not put on his seat belt. He was too busy staring out the window at the building, trying to see what was going on. Several cops were thrown out of the door of the McDonalds building. Tom turned to the cab driver as he opened his wallet.

"Let me out here." Tom said, a nervous tone to his voice as he fumbled around with his wallet. "How much will that be?"

The taxi driver checked the meter, then turned back to Tom as he stopped the car. "A dollar eighty five." He seemed surprisingly calm. The cigar in his mouth almost completely used up. Tom handed him the money as he thanked him, then unbuckled his seat-belt and let himself out. He closed the door with a thud and the taxi drove off. Tom walked slowly up to the parking lot, staring at the place with shock. Some police men walked up to him and stopped him from getting closer.

"Nothing to see here." One of the officers told Tom. "You should go home. Let us handle this."

"But I work here!" Tom said, a knot forming in his stomach. "I'm supposed to get paid today! If I don't get that money..."

"We're doing the best we can. You just have to..."

Their conversation was cut off suddenly as McDonalds exploded, sending several cops flying through the air along with several chunks of the building. The police, keeping Tom back, crouched behind their cars and pulled out their guns. Tom crouched down too, wondering what was happening. Suddenly a strange feeling overcame him. He now realized that on top of the fact that he might be in danger here, he would also be in danger with his landlord, for now there was no way he could get paid. He didn't have enough time to ponder what he was going to do now that he was surely going to be living on the streets and eating out of trash cans. For at that moment, the flames that stood where McDonalds used to be, had parted. A man wearing strange green and yellow robes was slowly walking out of what remained of the building, a green aura flickering around him as he walked. His eyes glowing red. It was impossible to tell whether the man had hair or not, and other random features were difficult to see as well.

"Open fire!" A policeman shouted. Several rounds were being shot at the strange, glowing man walking out of the building. The bullets, however, were bouncing off of him. No, they weren't even hitting him. They repelled themselves off of the air around the strange glowing man.

"What the hell?..." Tom said with confusion, backing up very slowly from the event. Not believing one bit of it, and yet, there it was happening right in front of him. The glowing man began screaming out as he shot balls of fire at the police. Several cars were destroyed as he threw the fire around like a mad man. Tom leaped out of the parking lot and behind some bushes as he saw one coming his way, to paniked to realise how foolish hiding from a ball of fire behind bushes was. He covered his head and closed his eyes tightly, but to his surprise, he didn't hear an explosion. In fact, he couldn't hear anything but burning debris. No gun shots. No fireballs flying through the air. no explosions. and no screaming.

Tom peeked his head out from above the bushes. The police were all asleep and the glowing man was gone. He stood slowly, believing this even less than what was happening before. How could something like that just stop? And why would the police all fall asleep without any sign of sleeping gas? Or maybe there was sleeping gas and he was just the first to wake up? Tom walked out from behind the bush and began dragging the sleeping cops away from their burning cars, knowing it wasn't safe for them to stay near them. One by one he pulled the police away from their cars. One of the cars exploded as he was pulling the last police officer to safety, startling him, but not stopping him. He couldn't help feeling sleepy every time he got close to the parking lot. As soon as he was done, the police began waking up.

_"I better get out of here"_ Tom thought to himself, although he wasn't compleatly sure why. He just had a really bad feeling about staying. But, as he turned to leave...

"Hey! Don't move!"

Tom turned to see several sleepy cops aiming their guns at him. He raised his arms high into the air, opening his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

"Did you do this?!" One of the cops said to him in an angry tone.

"N, no! I couldn't..." Tom explained. "You know I didn't... You saw the guy..."

"Enough!" Said the cop in anger. "You're under arrest!"

Tom didn't understand it. They saw the guy who did it. Why were they accusing him of doing this? It was as if they didn't know what had happened at all. Tom was cuffed and read his rights, then pushed rather harshly into a police car and driven to the police station.

-

Tom was locked in cell number thirty six. The guard was patrolling the cells slowly, beating his club against the bars to annoy the prisoners. Tom couldn't understand it. Was it all just his imagination? Maybe nothing happened after the explosion. Maybe the explosion sent him flying back behind the bush and debris landed on the police cars. It could have been a gas explosion, but that didn't explain why the cops were there, or why they were all asleep too. On top of that, their guns were out. It was confusing and hard to accept, but what he saw must have really happened. But, why did it stop?

He heard a couple of voices at the end of the hall. He figured that the guard must have been talking to an officer or one of the prisoners about something. Then suddenly. the voices stopped. There was no sound at all. Not even the breathing of the sleeping prisoners or the water leaking from the ceiling. Then he heard loud footsteps coming from the left. The opposite side from where the guard was.

"Who's there?!" Tom said with some terror in his voice, standing slightly.

"It's alright" Said an old, but firm sounding voice. "I'm a friend of yours."

As the man walked into view, Tom could see that he was definitely nobody that he recognized. This man had long silvery hair and gray eyes. He was wearing a white shirt with white pants and white shoes while sporting a white cape that was red on the inside. Tom shook his head angrily.

"You are not my friend! I don't even know who you are!"

"My name is Lore. I am a high mage on the Council of Nine."

Tom rolled his eyes. "High mage? Council of Nine?" Tom said with a bit of a laugh. "I think you're missing a few marbles." Tom dropped down onto his prison bed. He looked to the side as if atempting to ignore the man in front of his cell, then turned back curiously. "What kind of a name is 'Lore' Anyway?"

"T'was a nickname I acquired over time." Lore said with an unshakable calmness in his voice. He streched his arms out to his sides and wrapped his hands around the bars, leaning against them as he continued to speak. "I was well known for knowing things. Far too many things at times."

"Fine, so you have a nickname." Tom said, a bit annoyd. "What's your real name?"

"I cannot say. That's privileged information."

"Yeah, sure..." Tom shook his head, acting like this Lore fellow was a fruit cake. Lore just smiled.

"You have magical potential too. I sense a strong Avatar within you."

"What?" Tom now looked confused as ever.

"You have the ability to tell what time it is without looking at any form of a clock." Tom couldn't believe that Lore new this. He guessed that Lore probably heard it from someone and just got a little more annoyed about it. thinking this was all crazy, but also seeing that this 'Lore' was given a proper nickname.

"What the hell is an avatar?" Tom said, more confused than before. "And what does knowing what time it is have to do with any of this? Anybody could learn how to do it" Tom could see Lore shaking his head, as if he was listening to the words of a fool.

"Do you know what time it is now?" Lore asked. Tom thought about it for a moment, then slowly shook his head.

"No... I don't" He admited hesitantly.

"You can't tell because time is stopped." These words caused Tom to raise a brow, seeing Lore as even more of a nutcase now. Lore continued. "Your avatar is your soul, and it's so strong that you can sense the waves of time." Tom shook his head.

"You're out of your mind, you know that?"

"Am I?" Lore said with a smile on his face. Tom stood up again, feeling a bit annoyed with this Lore fellow.

"Whatever. I have no time for crazy people who think they're mages. I'm in enough trouble as it is. Just leave me alone and take your magical fantasies with you!" Lore offered Tom an amused grin as he leaned in a bit closer.

"Are you saying that what you saw at McDonalds never happened?" Lore said, his amusement apparent in his tone. "All just a fantasy?" Tom opened his mouth to say something, but then looked around as he thought about what Lore just said.

"How do you know about that?"

"I'm a high mage, as well as a fountain of knowledge." Lore said planely. "It's my job to know." There was a moment of silence as Tom stood up and began to pace back and forth in his cell, thinking hard. Eventually he turned to Lore again.

"Fine, let's say you're telling the truth." Tom said, short on reasons to deny Lore's case. "How can you prove any of what you're saying?"

At that moment, Lore walked forward. His body molded around the bars of Tom's cell, giving Tom quite a shock and causing him to throw himself back against the wall. Eventually, Lore was all the way inside and smiling as Tom fell back onto his bed.

"Still think I'm telling lies?" Said Lore as he gazed at Tom, who gave no answer to his question. Too frightened to utter a sound. "I thought so." Lore continued to stand their as Tom tried to relax himself. He found all of this hard to believe, but he couldn't deny what was happening. Unless...

"This must all be a nightmare..." He said in an attempt to make himself feel better. "All just a crazy dream!" Tom smiled stupidly and let out a laugh as he began to turn his head this way and that, looking around the room to find something out of place, as most of his dreams, realistic or not, always had mistakes. But this was the first time he had ever known he was dreaming.

"No. I can assure you, this is quite real." Lore said slowly as Tom didn't find anything out of place at all, aside from the deathly silence around him. Tom pinched himself on the arm, fairly sure that would cause himself to wake up.

"Ouch!" He looked at his arm for a moment, then up to Lore in shock. Feeling a bit uneasy.

"If this isn't a dream..." He said with a shaky voice. "What do you plan to do to me now?... Kill me?" Lore smiled and shook his head.

"No." Lore said calmly. "If I wanted to kill you, it would be done."

"Oh... Well that's nice" Tom said, sarcastically. Pretending that made him feel better. "What did you come here for then?"

"This brings us back to why I am a friend of yours." Lore said, ignoring Tom's sarcasm. "What I've come to do is to offer you a choice." Tom looked up at Lore, not completely understanding his statement.

"A choice? What do you mean by that?" He watched as Lore walked to a wall and leaned against it.

"The choice I'm offering you is this. You can either allow me to erase your memory willingly, leaving no chance of you remembering any of these events, or you can choose to die." Lore lowered his head a bit as he said the last half of that sentence.

"Forget everything or die?" Tom said, feeling a bit insulted. "Why did you even bother to tell me in the first place?" Lore raised his head and looked back up at Tom.

"Because if you are to either forget or die, then your avatar would at least remember what happened here." Lore smiled a bit as he prepared himself to speak again. "That way, you'll know a bit in another life when it comes time for your awakening."

"Awakening?" Tom asked curiously, but mostly wanting to stall for time, which was a bit of a strange concept at the moment as time was suposedly standing still.

"People who have great magical power are the "awakened". Those who have not been awakened to magic are called "Sleepers." Some sleepers, like yourself, have strong avatars, and have gained a bit of magical power. Such people include psychics and hypnotists. In your case, however, your avatar has peeked into the area of Time"

"There you go about time again." Tom said in an unconvincing attempt to sound frustrated. "What exactly do you mean?."

"You can sense Time." Lore said, seeming a bit annoyed now at these questions. That uncanny ability you have that allows you to know exactly what time it is without looking at a clock. You think of it as something normal. Something that others can notice given practice, but this is not the case. It is your magical ability, you see. An ability given to you because your avatar is abnormally strong in the area of Time. Possibly meaning that in a previous life, you used Time magic often."

"Strangely, this is all kind of making sense..." Tom looked around, then looked back to Lore, now realising that he was definitly going to forget everything one way or another. "Will I ever remember any of this? You know... after you erase my memory?"

"No." Said Lore, seeming a bit like he felt as though he was babysitting Tom. "Your memory will be permanently altered. You will forget everything that has happened today. You will live out your life the way it was meant to be lived. Whether or not you end-up becoming a mage in the future... well, we'll leave that up to destiny." Looking a bit pleased with the last word he mentioned, as if it was an inside joke, Lore turned and walked through the bars again. Tom stood up suddenly as Lore turned back around to face him.

"So that's it?! After all of that, I just forget it all and live my pathetic life?!" Tom said with anger in his voice. He didn't want to forget what had happened. It was the first time his life had ever had anything interesting happen in it. He didn't want to go back to the way things were. Lore turned toward Tom and smiled at him. Lore was beginning to glow.

"That would seem to be the basic idea, yes." Lore said with amusement. "Have a nice day." Suddenly Lore became a bright flash of light. Tom was now standing behind the counter at McDonalds, as though it had never been destroyed. Tom looked around, wondering how he had gotten there, not remembering anything to do with the explosion, the arrest, Lore, or anything about magic. As Tom stood there with a dazed expression on his face, a customer walked up to the counter.

"Hey, are you alright?" Said the customer, a bit concerned.

"Huh? Yeah." Tom replied, feeling a bit uneasy as he snapped back to reality. "Uh, what do you need?"


	2. ReAsserted Fate

DISCLAIMER:

I do not own the world nor any of the rules of this story. The only things I can claim to be mine are the characters and the plot. The views and opinions expressed in the story may or may not be my own, the whole idea is for you to think a character is being stupid, not me. If you happen to see something wrong you may inform me, but please do not do so in an insulting mannor. Please feel free to read and review, and enjoy.

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**MAGE DESTINY**

**Technocratic Union**

**Chapter 2**

**Re-Asserted Fate**

Tom had no idea how he got behind the counter in McDonalds. The last thing he could remember before "appearing" there was riding in a cab. He didn't have the time to think about it now, though. He had to serve his customers before they got angry. He gave the man at the counter a double cheeseburger with a large fry and a diet coke. As if that counters the rest of the meal, he thought. Tom stood there with his elbows on the counter and resting his face in his hands, waiting for the workday to end so he can be paid.

After serving several more meals, his boss sent for him. Tom walked to the back room, which was kinda stupid to have as an office, to meet his boss. His boss was wearing the usual manager uniform and was writing a check when Tom walked up to him.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" Tom said as he tried to calm his excitement.

"Yes, have a seat." His boss said as he set down his pen and motioned toward a chair.

Tom quickly walked to the chair and sat down, doing a poor job of hiding his excitement. He crossed his legs at his ankles and folded his hands, staring at the check his boss just filled out with enthusiasm. There wasn't much else on the desk. Only a few pieces of paper, the pen his boss used to write the check with, and Mr. Elson on the front of the desk. However, The stupidity in having a fancy desk in the back of a kitchen didn't matter at this point. Mr. Elson took a breath and began to speak.

"Now Tom, You've been with us for a little while now. About a week, am I right?" Mr. Elson began. It was easy to tell he was going somewhere with it.

"Yes sir." Tom was trying to hide the excitement in his voice.

"Right, and as such, you must be paid."

Tom watched as his boss picked up the check from his desk slowly. Tom's folded hands gripped together tighter as he began to smile. He felt like he wanted to shout, but was able to keep control of himself. His boss handed him his check. Tom quickly stood as he reached out and snatched it.

"Thank you sir!" Tom looked up at his boss, who didn't seem as pleased.

"Can't say you earned it though." Mr. Elson looked down as he took his pen back into his hand and began writing down some more notes. Tom's smile quickly faded as he stared at his boss.

"What do you mean?" Trying his best not to sound offensive.

"I mean that everyone else who has been here that long was able to meet their quota." Tom's eyes widened a bit from what he had just heard. He leaned against his chair heavily.

"What? How can there be a quota at McDonalds?" Tom eventually said, unable to hide his frustration. "That doesn't make any sense!"

"You have to serve at least ten people every day." Mr. Elson explained with an annoyed tone. "The fact is that you couldn't do that. At best you've only managed to serve seven a day."

"But I'm on a shift where barely any customers actually come INSIDE the building!"

"Hey, I didn't set the quota." Mr. Elson straightened his papers and stacked them. He then folded his hands in front of himself and rested them on his desk. "You couldn't do your job. You've been paid for that poor week you gave us. You're fired. Now get outta here before I have you thrown out."

Tom felt like killing this guy, but he knew he was nowhere near a match for him so he hesitated. He soon forced himself to turn around and walk out of the building, throwing his work shirt on the floor and slamming the door to the place. There was nothing he could think of to do. Even if he wanted to fight it out in court, he'd lose. It's happened before at one of his earlier jobs. Taking a cab slipped his mind as he began walking toward his apartment, but he didn't really feel like hailing one. He decided to simply continue walking, thinking about how much his life sucks.

-

On his way home, Tom began to feel something strange. He stopped walking and began to look up into the sky. The sun was sitting just a little ways above the horizon.

"This can't be right." Tom said as he checked his watch. It was four thirty two in the evening. "I don't get it... It even feels like it's four thirty two... but it seems like it should be at the very least two hours later."

Tom shook his head a little as he raised his hands to his face. He lightly slapped both of his cheeks twice, then rubbed is eyes. He did have an exausting day, after all. As he continued to walk home, another strange feeling swept over him. He looked back up at the sun as he walked beside the street at a slow pace and thought about the feeling that he had about what time it was. His eyes grew wide as the words _"Do you know what time it is now? You can't tell because time is stopped."_ suddenly came to is mind.

"Those words..." Tom began in a quiet voice as he slowed to a stop. "They sound so familiar, but... where have I heard them before?"

"Mr. Winslow, are you alright?"

Tom turned toward the voice a bit startled. He found himself in front of his apartment complex, and the voice seemed to belong tp Mrs. Fonner. He didn't realize that while he was lost in thought, he had subconsciously walked himself home. Mrs. Fonner was standing just next to the street looking to him with some concern. He shook off his shock and, as calmly as he could, gave a reply.

"Uh, yes. I'm fine." He gave Mrs. Fonner a weak smile. "I was just thinking about something.

"Oh, alright." Mrs. Fonner walked over to Tom, looking a bit more stern now. "Do you have this week's rent?"

"The rent?" Tom asked, temporarily losing track of himself. "Oh yes! The rent." Tom reached into his pocket and pulled out the folded check. "I haven't been to the bank to cash it just yet, but..."

Mrs. Fonner quickly snatched the check out of Tom's hand before he could finish. Tom would have felt a little insulted by this action, but he was used to it by now.

"You can't even cash your own check?" Mrs. Fonner said with disappointment in her voice. "Well if you don't know how, then I suppose I'll have to cash it for you. However, it will cost you more for wasting my time."

Tom held his head low, knowing that if he even looked like he would snap at her then she would increase the rent even more. He placed his hands into his pants pockets as he took everything that was said toward him.

"Yes Mrs. Fonner. I understand..."

"Good" Mrs. Fonner said with a sudden head nod." Now get inside. You have chores to do."

Tom watched as Mrs. Fonner walked toward her car at a rather fast pace. She soon reached her car. Opening the driver's door as if she wanted to rip it off of it's hinges. She then looked up at Tom with an annoyed expression about her.

"Now, Mr. Winslow." She commanded with a very strict tone.

"Alright..." Tom said as he walked toward the apartment building. Dragging his feet as he went. Mrs. Fonner then got into her vehicle and closed the door. Tom reached the front door just as Mrs. Fonner had started the engine. Tom opened the front door, then he turned to watch Mrs. Fonner drive away. Then slowly he backed inside and closed the door.

-

Later that night, Tom was lying in his bed as a thunderstorm raged outside. Tom was half covered and wearing just a pair of pants. He was tossing and turning as sweat poured down his body. The images of McDonalds exploding flashed through his mind along with him being arrested and the police being hit with balls of fire. With every image that flashed through his mind, the lightning flashed outside his window. Eventually, the image of Lore flashed through his mind a few times. The last image was followed by a very loud and bright flash of lighting, waking Tom. Tom sat up straight in his bed with a terrified expression on his face. The lighting lit up a man in the corner of his room. The man had silver hair and a white cloak along with white clothing. There was no mistake. It was him.

"Lore..." Tom said out of reaction. Remembering everything that he was supposed to have forgotten.

"So, you remember?" Lore said as he sat on the desk in the corner of the room. "Your avatar must be stronger than I though."

"Why did you erase my memory?" Tom said with a bit of anger. "Is my mind just a game to you?"

"Oh, yes" Lore said with a smile on his face. "But, that's not why I erased your memory."

"Then why?!" Tom suddenly snapped. Lore looked a little disappointed at him.

"Watch your tone. I could kill you in an instant if I wanted to."

"So why haven't you?" Tom quickly replied.

Lore stood with a smile. The lightning flashed once again, making him seem extreamly devious as he slowly began to walk toward Tom, who was now feeling a little nervous along with his anger. He moved over to the opposite side of his bed from where Lore was heading.

"Well it simply will not do to harm a sleeper. It's against our code."

"But erasing my memory isn't?" Tom said, trying his best to hold back his anger. "Even if I told someone, who would believe me?" Lore shook his head slightly.

"There are people out there who already know about us, and they would either kill you or torture you if they found out that you had any knowledge of our existence."

Tom looked up at Lore as he became a bit shocked to hear this. His anger was swept away quickly at the thought that this man was only trying to protect him. However, his erased anger was soon replaced by confusion.

"Why not just appoint someone to protect me then? Or bring me into your organization? Why erase my memory?"

"It takes time and effort to do those things." Lore said calmly. "No, I'm afraid I'll just have to erase your memory again."

"And have him remember again?" An old, female voice suddenly said. Both Tom and Lore suddenly looked to the door and found eight people sitting there. 6 were female and two were male. Other than that, they all seemed to be wearing strange cloths, but the exact details were unclear. all of them looking very important.

"Millenia." Lore said with a bit of shock.

"You can't hide from the rest of the council, Lore." Millenia said with a smirk. Tom couldn't be sure, but her hair seemed to be blonde. "Putting that aside, however, the boy has a point. You should awaken him into our culture."

"But, at a time like this?" Lore said with a bit of laughter in his voice. "We can't afford to waste that kind of time."

"I'll be the judge of that." Said a more exotic looking woman with black hair who seemed to fold her arms.

"Xana, surely you must agree."

"We can't have him just remembering again, can we? That would waste even more time." Xana said. "Besides, he has an abnormally strong avatar and we're in need of as many mages as we can get." She raised her head a bit with a smirk as she continued. "Like it or not, you'll just have to awaken him."

"And where am I going to find the time to teach him anything?" Lore said with a little anger in his tone.

"If you have the time to play around and erase his memory, then you have the time to apprentice him." Xana said simply.

"But..." Lore began, but was suddenly cut off by an old man.

"Was there another reason?" The old man asked, looking at him as if he was expecting a pack of lies to fly out of his mouth.

"No... Galdurin" Lore sighed gently, shifting his weight onto his right foot. "I'll awaken him, but I'm not teaching him everything."

"That will do." Galdurin said as he folded his hands. "We shall see you again at the meeting."

In the next flash of lightning, The eight other mages, it seems, disappeared. Tom was completely speechless during the whole time the eight of them had been there. He looked over at Lore who slowly leaned against the wall. Tom swallowed a bit hard and began to speak.

"So... you're going to awaken me then?" Lore shook his head slowly as he stared at where the others once stood.

"I hate babysitting..." He said in a very miserable tone.

-

The next morning, Mrs. Fonner knocked on the door to Tom's room.

"Mr. Winslow!" She said in her usual annoying tone. "It's time for you to get up!" She waited outside the door for a moment before knocking again. "Tom Winslow, get up right this instant!"

She waited once again. She then took her keys and selected the one to the room's door. Unlocked the door, she slammed it open. When she walked in, Tom was nowhere to be found. The room was completely clean without any of Tom's belongings inside. Mrs. Fonner just stood there in shock as the keys fell from her hand.

-

Tom and Lore were walking through a lush forest with trees bigger than Tom had ever seen. The grass was rich and flowers were everywhere except for the dirt path they were walking along. Various animals were there also, including several fireflies. The forest was dark enough to let the fireflies illuminate it a little, giving the place a sort of magical feel to it. Tom was pulling his belongings along with him in a couple large bookbags.

"How much further is it?" Tom said as he struggled to keep his luggage under control.

"It's not far." Lore said as he glanced back at Tom. "You know, nobody told you to bring any of that with you."

"I like to keep things that belong to me, if you don't mind?" Lore smirked a bit as he looked forward again.

"Well then you shouldn't complain. You chose to bring it and every choice has it's own burden." He raised his open hand out in front of himself, palm side up. "Besides, we've already arrived."

Tom looked up as he saw that they were coming upon a large mansion. It was at least five stories tall and has several water fountains in the front along with what looked like a couple of large rooftop gardens. The place was very beautiful and looked really old with vines climbing up the sides of the slightly cracked white walls. it was as if it had been around as long as the forest itself.

"Wow..." Tom said as he looked up at the mansion in awe. "It's huge!"

"This place?" Lore said with a smirk. "This is actually quite small for council mage standards. However, it's much bigger on the inside."

"Huh?" Tom said in confusion. Ignoring the council mage part, he didn't understand how a place could be bigger on the inside. "Oh, you mean it _seems_ bigger inside, right?" Tom suggested. Lore just laughed.

"You'll see" Lore began walking up to the large double doors in the front of the mansion. Tom followed with his bags.

"There's a large basement then?" Tom suggested again. Lore just shook his head and repeated the words "You'll see" as he came upon the front doors. As they walked, the doors opened by themselves. Lore walked into the main room which had white walls, marble floor with red carpet. a white ceiling that was two stories up and gold trim in every corner, along with two curved stair cases on either side of the room that lead up to half of a second floor. Tom began to walk in, but just as he made it half-way in, the doors suddenly slammed shut on him.

"Ah!!!" Tom cried out as he dropped his luggage and covered his head. Lore turned and smiled as Tom opened his eyes. He began feeling around himself, making sure he was all there. He looked behind himself at the closed doors, then he looked up at Lore as if he was about to faint. "What happened?" Lore let out a small laugh.

"Don't worry, they like doing that to people they've never met before."

"But how did...?" Tom began to say, but was cut off as Lore raised his hand to stop him from asking and proceeded to answer.

"You're in a place of magic, now. The doors simply passed through you as if you weren't even there." Lore lowered his hand as Tom just stood there blinking. He obviously didn't completely understand but he gave a quick nod anyway.

"I suppose you can do anything with magic?" Tom asked as he started to slowly gather his belongings.

"Anything?" Lore said with a smirk. "Anything doesn't even begin to describe it."

Suddenly the whole room became a phased blur of color, reorganizing every detail into a completely different room. They were now in a large bed room with a queen size bed, blue carpet, a door to it's own private bath, a silver and glass double door that lead to one of the roof gardens, a dresser, a book shelf, a desk with a chair and even a few tables. The walls and the ceiling were exactly the same as every other room, white with gold trim in the corners of the ceiling and still the same marble floor. Tom was a bit surprised by the sudden change.

"What the hell...?" Tom said as he felt short on breath.

"This is your room." Lore began as he raised his arms and gave a small turn. "You will live here with me from this day on until you can get your own place. But don't think you're going to be taking it easy." Lore looked over at Tom and saw that he was still in confusion from the room shifting. Tom soon realized what happened and looked up at Lore.

"Wait.." Tom began. "If you could do this all along, why didn't you just warp s here, or something? Why did you make me walk all the way here while carrying my stuff?

"It amused me." Lore said with a smirk.

"Right..." Tom said, a bit of frustration in his tone. Lore walked over and placed a hand on Tom's shoulder.

"Relax, that was nothing." Lore said with a smile as Tom stared at him. "The crazy part will begin shortly." Lore extended his hand toward the bed and began walking Tom, who didn't feel reassured at all, over to it. He then laid Tom down on his bed gently. "I am about to begin your awakening process. Let me remind you that this is usually where most new mages go insane. However if you don't lose your mind, you should be fine."

Tom looked even more freaked out after hearing that, but was unable to move. Lore placed his hand on Tom's chest gently and Tom watched as it and himself began to glow. After Tom stopped glowing, Lore removed his hand and began to speak as he placed both of his hands behind himself.

"You are now about to begin your spiritual journey. Do try not to lose your mind along the way. It simply wouldn't be any fun if you lose before you begin."

Tom felt the energy that Lore had transferred to him. It started warm, but then began to pull at his mind and soul. He began to panic. Thrashing around as if trying to find some means to keep from slipping away. He then looked toward Lore as if giving him a plea for help.

"Just calm down and relax." Lore said in a calm voice. "Close your eyes and count backwards from one hundred. Concentrate only on the numbers and allow yourself to fall asleep. You'll be fine."

Tom quickly shut his eyes tightly, trying to shut out everything he was feeling and hearing. "One hundred... ninty nine... ninty eight..." Tom was begining to feel himself drift away. "Ninty seven... ninty six..." Tom whispered the numbers ninty five and ninty four as he passed out. Lore gave a smirk as he patted Tom's shoulder then turned for the door.

"I doubt you will ever be sane again." Lore laughed a bit as he walked toward the door and passed through it.

-

Tom now found himself in the middle of a street. It was night, the buildings seemed dead and the moon was full and huge in the sky. He then realized that he was still lying on his back and slowly stood up while looked around. The streets were empty except for the trash and clutter you would normally see. There were very few lights so it was very dark.

"Where am I?" Tom asked himself, feeling a bit lost. Although he never expected to receive a reply to his question, that didn't stop him from asking it. As susected, there was no sound other than his own, however he thought he might have seen something. He stared down a dark allyway for a moment, then saw a shadow turn the corner. "Hey!"

Tom broke into a sprint as he began to chase after the shadow in the dark ally. He was running as fast as he could, soon turning the corner. However, once there he realised that he was on the same street that he was on just a moment ago. He breathed heavily as he looked out at the street, then turned back to look down the ally once again. A better look now showed him that the ally continued to repeat after crossing each road, which was also repeated. Tom looked up and down the street and found to his annoyance, it also seemed to have a loop of sorts, although it wasn't very noticable.

"Perfect..." Tom said in annoyance. He didn't know what else he could possibly do. If everything kept looping, then there was no way he could find his way out. "Wait a minute..." He then began to think about that for a moment. He couldn't find his way out. There was one other situation where that phrase was used. "I'm lost..."

Tom began to look around frantically. He didn't really think he was lost. He knew exactly where he was. He was in a dream laying in a bed in Lore's manson. However, maybe it was meant to mean that his "soul" was lost. If that was the case, then how would he find it? Continuing to look around more carefully, he hoped to find a clue somehow. Something that seemed out of place enough to lead him in the right direction, but there didn't seem to be anything.

He then decided to look for what was obvious, figuring anything might have some significance. He took note first that he was in a city. A dead one, at that. It was dark, the moon was full, there was trash in the streets and... suddenly somethig seemed strange enough to take Tom back a step. He looked up into the sky once more.

"There's no stars..." He then noticed something else that he decided to add in as he stared down at the trash, which didn't even seem to wobble. "There's no wind either..." What did this mean? He wondered. Maybe it didn't mean anything at all?

It then occured to Tom that he still hadn't found that shadowy figure and he began to look around again. If this place repeated, then this figure had to be somewhere. For all he knew, this shadow figure was his lost soul. He began looking in trash cans, then kicked at some newspapers, which seemed to fly back to where they where. Tom took note of this too and figured there might me more strange things. Deciding to test the ground, he tried for a jump. He gave a loud yell as he flew hith into the air away from the road, however his panic seemed to die a little as he noticed that all the trash and buildings flew up with him. Tom looked around for a moment, then gave another yell as he began to fall. Just before he hit, however, something occured to him. None of this was real. Why should he be scared?

Acting as if he had slammed on the breaks, he slowed and gently landed on the ground. He then noticed it had gotten bright. Shielding his eyes, he looked up at the moon which was now shining brightly. Something then occured to him and he turned quickly. He then saw the same shadowy figure that he had chased down the ally, and it's feet were attatched to his own. it was his shadow, now sitting there with him. He felt very heavy and began to lie down on the street, falling gently into his shadow. The last thing he saw as the dream slipped away, was the full moon shining alone in the night sky.


	3. The Council of Nine

DISCLAIMER:

I do not own the world nor any of the rules of this story. The only things I can claim to be mine are the characters and the plot. The views and opinions expressed in the story may or may not be my own, the whole idea is for you to think a character is being stupid, not me. If you happen to see something wrong you may inform me, but please do not do so in an insulting mannor. Please feel free to read and review, and enjoy.

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**MAGE DESTINY**

**Technocratic Union**

**Chapter 3**

**The Council of Nine**

Lore had just stepped through a portal in space which looked much like a hole torn in the very fabric of reality. This portal closed behind him, leaving him within a wide-open country area on a planet about the size of a small moon, and before him was a huge complex with old stone and metal walls surrounding the outside, a guard tower at every turn. There were three mages there to meet him aside from another two who were standing guard at the sides of the front gate. These three mages wore simple dark blue robes. One had dark black hair while the others had different shades of brown. It was early morning and Lore's white robes seemed to have a reddish glow from the color of the sun. the complex itself seemed to have a mix of styles built into it, including a poorly represented modern western style. The three mages soon approached Lore and the dark haired one began to scan him with his magic. When he was finished, he stepped back to allow the others to greet him.

"You're late." The lighter brown haired mage insisted. "Summer equinox has already begun."

"I heard that this would be an important meeting." Lore said with a slight grin. "I wanted to be sure I was adequately prepared."

"It doesn't matter." Said the dark hared mage plainly. "The meeting will begin shortly. Let's get inside."

The mage guards pulled open the gate doors, which creaked loudly as they were very old. The other three mages were the first to enter the compound, followed closely by Lore. The guards closed the gate with a loud thud as Lore and the others began to walk across the interior of the complex The inside of the complex housed hundreds of buildings, which included dormitories, an infirmary, gardens with several normal and strange herbs, temples and churches, a certamen circle, workshops, classes and storage rooms. Soon they had approached a building in the center of the complex where two more guards stood. This building was bigger than all the others and seemed to have a castle-like appearance. The guards pulled the doors open as the other three mages stepped aside, allowing Lore to enter before them. The doors were closed after they entered, leaving the building completely secure.

-

When Tom awoke, it was already morning. The sun's rays were shining through an open window near his bed and he could hear birds chirping outside. Or at least they sounded like birds. He sat up slowly and began to rub his head as he recalled the dream. Was that what the dream was all about? Was it only trying to tell him that it was fake? He didn't quite understand what it all meant, but he felt that some small part of him probably did. He definitely felt a little different than he normally did. It was as if he was looking at the world for the first time. Everything around him seemed unfamiliar, though he knew exactly what they were. If it was possible he also felt even smaller and less significant that he felt yesterday. Of course, that could just be an after shock from learning that magic exists. The unfamiliar feel he was getting from everything around him was probably just his imagination too.

Setting all of that aside for the moment, he slowly got out of bed and headed for his dresser. His eyes went wide after he opened it, for inside was several normal, as well as mage-style, outfits hanging there for him to choose from. There were hats, gloves, shoes, boots, pants, shirts, belts, capes, cloaks, and even socks and under shorts of different colors and styles. Picking out an outfit he liked, he decided to lay it out on his bed and then headed into the next room to wash up. After that he wrapped a towel around his waist and proceeded to brush his teeth and comb his hair. Something he used to hardly ever have the time for. He gave himself one last look in the mirror before he returned to the bedroom to get dressed. putting on a pair of black shoes, black pants with a blood red belt. a black sleeveless shirt, a red dragon scale necklace that seemed to catch his attention and a firie red cloak to complete the style. The back side of the cloak even looked as if it was made of flames. He returned to the mirror to check how he looked. He didn't think he looked too bad, although there was definitely something lacking.

Pulling his gaze away from the mirror, he began to wonder where Lore ran off to. He left the bathroom and began to wonder the mansion a little aimlessly. Tom shouted Lore's name, but there was no reply. Where could he have gone? Tom wondered. Then his eyes fell upon a spiral staircase that lead up the one and only tower in the whole mansion. Of course! Lore had to be up there! Tom couldn't think of any better place for an office or secret room. Without another thought, he decided to run up the stairs, however it wasn't long before he noticed something was strange. He was certain that he had passed the same window at least five times. Turning around, he found that despite how much progress he thought he made, it was only a few steps back down to the bottom. The staircase apparently had a spell on it to prevent people from reaching the top.

"Perfect..." Tom said with a sigh. If Lore was in the above room, there was no way to reach him. He didn't really mind all that much, but he wish Lore at least let him know what to do next. He could always ask him about it later, he supposed, but now he was curious about that was in that room. He couldn't just give up on it. It had to be something very important to have a spell protecting it. He then began to think that maybe there was another way to get there when suddenly it occurred to him that there might be a window. "Of course..." He whispered to himself. Surely every room had to have a window. With this idea in mind, Tom raced up the main stairway to get a little higher before making the attempt.

Soon he had reached a window on the third floor of the mansion. Looking out, he could see a small ledge barely big enough to stand on with his toes. Slowly, he began to step out onto it. holding onto the windowsill to keep from falling back. He took a couple of deep breaths as he began quietly telling himself not to look down. However, uttering those words did little to prevent him from doing just that. Tom quickly looked back to the wall as he closed his eyes and swallowed hard. Maybe this wasn't as good of an idea at he thought it was? Still, he could see the tower window from where he was. He couldn't just give up on it now. Letting his curiosity cloud his judgment, he pressed on, moving slowly along the outside wall of Lore's mansion.

After crawling along the outer wall for several minutes, Tom managed to safely reach the tower. Somehow he managed to climb up onto the next tiny ledge and he was now directly under the window. He had made it. A smile crossed his face as he breathed heavily. This whole venture had tired him, but he felt that it was worth it. All that was left was to pull himself into the window. Tom reached a shaky hand up to the windowsill to grab onto it, but just then a flash of light knocked his hand away, causing him to fall back. He gave a loud yell, sure that he would fall straight to the ground. However, somehow he stopped. Looking around in shock, he soon found that his dragon scale necklace was caught between two bricks in the wall. It was as if the necklace had reached out and grabbed the wall to save his life. Then something else caught his attention. The dragon scales seemed to be glowing. He then remembered something he had read in fantasy novels. Dragons were highly resistant against magic. Could it really work? He looked to the window, then back to the necklace, now noticing that its hold was slipping. Quickly, he leaned forward and grabbed the bottom of the windowsill just before the necklace slipped from the wall. He removed the necklace and held it up to the window cautiously. A flash of light seemed to try to force it away, however he was barely able to continue forcing the necklace forward, punching a huge hole in the magical field guarding the window. Realizing he had only seconds to get inside, he grabbed the windowsill and with one last great effort he pulled himself inside.

Tom was now inside of a dark circular room with a small table in the middle. On this table was what looked like a blue rug with silver trim and a crystal ball in the middle. There were several other things along the walls as well, but this object was the only thing that caught his eye. He knew crystal balls to have the power to show people whatever they wanted to see. He moved closer to the table and then kneeld down beside it. Placing his hands on the sides of the ball, he saw that it began to glow. Tom swallowed hard, still a bit shaky from the climb. There was only one thing he wanted to see.

"Show me Lore."

Gazing into the crystal ball, Tom could now see smoke begin to gather and swirl around within it. Eventually an image formed within this smoke and Tom could now see a room with a round, blue, wooden table that appeared to have a large crystal sphere in the middle of it, in which he seemed to slowly descend into. Around this table were ten chairs, eight of which had someone standing in front of them. Six of them appeared to be female and two were male, but none of them appeared to be Lore. Just then, Tom spotted Lore walking up to one of the two remaining empty chairs at the table. All of them then sat down. All except for one, that is, who seemed to remain standing as he bowed his head respectfully toward the people who were sitting while he rested his hands firmly on the edge of the table. He was easily the oldest person there and he seemed to wear a long green robe which was tied shut. His long white beard fell passed his chest, almost completely covering the white shirt he had on under his robe, along with brownish pants and black shoes. He also appeared to have a very detailed silver ring on the ring finger of his right hand which seemed to shine as much as his bald head in the lighting.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen." Said the old man, his silvery eyes moving from one person to the next. "The 60th meeting of the Council will now begin. I, Galdurin, have been selected to host this meeting. Let it be known that this meeting took place on time in the year 2006 during summer equinox. Additionally, let it also be known that all nine members are actually present and accounted for, for a change. It certainly is a refreshing sight after having only three members appear for the 58th meeting. To start things off, why don't we begin with the concerns of the Euthanatos?"

Galdurin then took his seat as a female wearing a dull white robe stood while nodding to the old man. She looked very beautiful, but at the same time very depressing. Her hair was gray and plane, her robe wasn't reflective at all, and she had several scars across her smooth pale frame. Even her eyes were a dull grayish-blue, as if a thousand years of sadness had been locked away within them.

"Thank you." The young maiden said. "As you all know, The House of Helekar has been giving us disquiet... We know they are up to something, but we need the expertise of mages from other traditions in order to-"

The woman seemed to be cut off as another man stood. He had jet black hair that was a little long, sparkling green eyes and a small goatee. His attire consisted of white pants which fell over brown shoes, a light blue button-up shirt and a black cloak. He placed his hands on the edge of the table as he addressed each of the other council members with a light smile painted across his face.

"Ladies and gentleman..." Said the man "I think we all agree that although Miss Snow's problem is cause for concern, it is purely an Euthanatos matter and we have more pressing topics to discuss."

"And which topics would those be, Eclipto?" Said Lore as Snow sat down once again. "The issue of the Hollow One's application? Or is it something that concerns the Sons of Ether?" From his tone as well as the way he was resting his head in his hand, Tom could see that Lore obviously wasn't taking this man seriously.

"No, nothing as simple as that." Said Eclipto. "As you recall, for the past few centuries, we have been forced to tolerate an ever increasing declination, both politically and in terms of ascension. Most of the world leaders are under the direct control or influence of the Technocracy, and with today's technological advancements it's becoming more and more likely that the world will fall into stasis before our next meeting."

"So what are you suggesting we do about it?" Came a ghostly sounding voice from the other side of the table.

Without thinking, Tom willed the view to turn, allowing him to see the source of the voice. It had come from a bony looking woman with short spiky blonde hair and blue eyes. She was wearing light blue robes, along with shoes, pants and a shirt which were also light blue. In fact, the only articles of clothing that weren't light blue was her necklace, which was silver, and one wide-looped earring, which was a light pink. She sat there playing with one of the very few long locks of hair that were placed randomly on her head, wrapping it around her finger as she stared at it with seemingly great interest. Turning back, Tom could see that Eclipto had smiled and bowed toward her quickly.

"Well, Lunia, what I suggest is that if we can't beat'em, why don't we join'em?"

As if on cue, the doors to the meeting room opened with a thud, causing everyone to advert their attention in it's direction as a man with short brown hair entered the room. he was wearing a black suit which matched his jet black shades and he showed no expression on his face. As Tom observed this man, he took him for a federal agent. But then again, why would a federal agent be in a meeting room with a bunch of mages? It didn't seem to make sense, unless... Of course, he must be under the control of the Technocracy, Tom finally decided. Although he still had no idea who or what this Technocracy was.

"Allow me to introduce to the Council, Vincent Du'Curse of the New World Order." Vincent bowed his head gently after approaching the table, but he refused to sit in the open chair and so continued to stand as everyone stared at him a moment longer.

"You can't be serious..." Came the familiar voice of another one of the women seated at the table. The woman had long black hair and gray eyes, and seemed to wear an open silk robe with a black top underneath, along with a long red skirt and black high-heel shoes. She also seemed to be decorated with jewelry and even had a few tattoos here and there.

"I agree with Xanza." Came another familiar voice. "We've been at war with the Technocracy for years. Their ideals are nothing like ours. How could you allow one of their agents to sit in on our meetings?" It was another female and she sat to the right of Galdurin. She had long blond hair and blue eyes and was wearing a siren robe with a siren top and pants, which were both thickened where they needed to be. her shoes were green and curled upward at the toes, and she had on a golden necklace with a green gem hanging from it. Tom recognized this person immediately as Millena.

"We, too, were once the same way" Eclipto stated with a smug grin on his face. "We, the Sons of Ether as well as the Virtual Adepts..." He gestured toward Lore. "...were once Technocratic Conventions, but we changed our ways. We grew to have the same ideals as the Traditions and so became Traditions ourselves."

"I am sure that's a worthy enough reason to sit in on our meetings..." Galdurin began. "However, so far you have shown us a lack of proof that the Technocracy has indeed changed it's ways."

"If they haven't changed, we still have nothing to lose." Eclipto said simply. "After all, he was put under the same blindfolding spells that any guest to our great council must be put under, so he will have no way of informing anyone where we are. However, if it'll set your minds at ease, I'll turn the floor over to Vincent for the proof you desire."

As Eclipto sat down once again, Vincent stepped forward. Tom rotated his view once more toward the technocrat, still feeling a bit confused about the relationship between federal agents and mages, however he was beginning to realize that it would be nearly impossible for them to not have some kind of relationship with each other. Vincent's face remained expressionless and his eyes remained hidden behind his shades, making him appear to be more robotic than human.

"As you are aware, the Tenocratic Union and the Nine Mystic Traditions have been at war for several hundred years. Though we would like to continue producing technology, to do so while at war with your mighty faction would only create setback after setback. Therefore, the Technocratic Union proposes that we co-exist. That we allow the other to run magic the way they see fit so long as we do not deny that the other exists."

"That sounds reasonable, but what proof do we have that you will uphold your end of the deal?" Galdurin asked, seeming to be a little annoyed with the lack of evidence presented so far.

"You want proof of our intentions?" Vincent asked with a slight smirk. "Here it is." He stepped aside as he held a hand out to a screen which seemed to appear out of thin air. It was a rather large screen that appeared to cover almost the entire width of the room and was floating several feet off the ground. However, there was no TV or projector that seemed to be displaying it. "This is a statement made to the press earlier today by one of our scientists."

Tom watched as a tall, thin man, looking much like a seven foot twig, with scruffy black hair that fell slightly passed his shoulders and brown eyes stepped in front of a microphone. He was wearing a white lab coat along with bluish gray gloves and had a somewhat unnerving grin which wrinkled acrossed his face, almost as if made of rubber. He held his hands out to silence the news reporters, who were all asking questions at once, then he leaned forward, almost pressing his lips against the microphone.

"Yes, the rumors are true." Began the scientist. "Using our latest technology we have been able to detect traces of stagnant energy inside of every material known to man. We ran some tests and found that this energy can be altered slightly by human thoughts, and in doing so, slightly alters the material itself." Vincent then pressed a button on a switch he held in his left hand and the screen vanished. He looked to the Council with an expression that seemed to dare them to challenge what they had just witnessed.

"Well, I think I've proven my point." Said Vincent rather calmly. "As you can probably imagine, with the idea of human thought altering the world around them, even if only slightly, the sleepers will eventually allow magic to become a normality in their mundane lives."

"Eventually, yes." Came the voice of another woman. "But it seems to me that this transaction would take several hundred years to allow us to use even the simplest of spells in public, and several species will have vanished from the sleeper's reality by then." She had blue skin along with long white hair and white eyes. Tom then got a better look at her as he couldn't believe his eyes. She had long pointed ears and seemed to be wearing very comfortable looking cloths made from animal hide and vines. There was no doubt about it, she was definitely an elf. What surprised him even more was how he seemed to now be mesmerized by her hand as it gently prodded at a flower she had resting in a jar in front of her.

"The technocracy had to follow the same schedule." Vincent said, coolly. "It took the Technocracy hundreds of years to get the sleepers to believe in the technology that's out today. I imagine you'll need to have just as much patience if you wish to use magic openly one day. After all, at this point it would be easy to say that we made a mistake, which, I also imagine, would set magic even lower on the scale than before."

"I don't recall asking for the Technocracy's help to bring magic back to the world." Said Lore, now seeming to have an annoyed expression on his face. "Need I also remind you that you are currently within our midst and the Council doesn't take kindly to threats."

"Threats?" Asked Vincent, seeming a bit confused. "I'm sorry, but I don't recall issuing any threats."

"Really?" Lore had raised a brow at this. "Let's play back the previous statement, shall we?"

Lore then turned toward the crystal sphere in the center of the table, which now began to glow at different levels according to tone as it repeated Vincent's words. "_After all, at this point it would be easy to say that we made a mistake, which, I also imagine, would set magic even lower on the scale than before."_ Lore then seemed to get a strange look in his eyes just before pulling them away from the crystal sphere and locking them back on Vincent.

"Well, that was simply thinking out loud." Vincent explained. "I meant no threat by it. I was simply stating a possibility."

"I highly doubt that." Said Lore, now looking like he was about to raise out of his seat.

"These are political discussions, Lore. Not the battle field." This voice came from the ninth and final member of the council. She was bald and had blue eyes, as well as a very bland looking brown dress which seemed to come off her shoulders a bit. Everything about her seemed to be calm and collected. "It will be more beneficial for both of our factions if we allow these proceedings to continue. A fact that both you and Fiona seem to be overlooking."

"Cloral is correct." Said Fiona, who apparently was the elf girl. "We shouldn't be so quick to dismiss such an opportunity, and although we don't require the Technocracy's assistance, it would be appreciated." Everyone seemed to fall into silence after this comment, then Galdurin stood once again.

"Very well. The council will have one year to decide on the outcome of these events. Once that time has elapsed, each member must cast their vote either to accept the Technocracy's alliance, or reject it." Galdurin raised his hand toward Vincent. "If the guards will now see our guest out, we shall move on to other matters."

Two of the mages who were standing at the door stepped forward. They gave a bow to the council, then proceeded to escort Vincent out of the room. As this occurred, Tom could feel himself loosing control of the vision. Everything was getting dark and blurred, and the room began to drift in front of him. Eventually his view returned to Lore, who seemed to be looking directly at him as though he knew Tom was there.

Tom quickly let go of the crystal ball, allowing it to turn completely clear once again as he stared at it while breathing heavily. He felt surprised and a little worried as he wondered if Lore knew he had been watching. He wondered what they do to people who spy on council meetings. Would he be thrown in prison? Tortured? Or maybe he'll be forced into doing something far worse than he could possibly imagine. He lowered his hands, which had been floating at the sides of the crystal ball, and slowly stood. He tried to calm himself down, thinking maybe he'd get off easy? He wasn't exactly told the rules of their world, after all. No, that would never work. Who would assume that spying on a secret meeting was alright? Slowly, Tom began to walk down the stairs, which didn't seem to loop when you were going down, hoping that Lore was just staring at the crystal sphere and not at him.


End file.
